Eleonora di Toledo
c. 1560
Bronzino served as the ultimate PR machine for the Medici family, and this portrait of Duchess Eleonora di Toledo is a masterclass in Renaissance flexing. Dressed in a heavy, jewel-encrusted red brocade gown that cost more than most people earned in a lifetime, she stares out with an icy, porcelain-like composure typical of the Mannerist style. Every intricate gold thread and strand of pearls was carefully painted to scream wealth and political power to anyone who looked at it. It’s less of a personal snapshot and more of a brilliant piece of 16th-century propaganda designed to keep the Medici dynasty firmly in charge.
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